GPS recomendation

[pdenton]

My boat has come equipped with a Lowrance Global Map 3500 C.
from the accompanying paperwork it appears to be 10 years old. The unit has a repeater and both the primary and the repeater appeared to be in excellent condition. No corrosion on the plugs.
but then again it is 10 years old. Has anyone had experience with this unit and do you feel that it is reliable or should I buy a more modern unit?
pdenton

[Suijin]

There is no reason to update it if it's still working adequately for you. I had a Lowrence chart plotter on one of my previous boats, about your vintage, and it was excellent and very reliable and robust. However, you may want to investigate updating the charts for the area in which you operate. If that's not possible, and your area is subject to changes (likely from shoaling and the repositioning of marks), then you have a good reason for replacement.

More broadly, I would hold off on updating it until you need to add or update other electronics on your boat. VHF, wind instruments, etc. Current equipment is networked and shares data for various purposes, and at that point it would make sense to refit with a chart plotter that can display information from various sensors as well as share GPS coords with a VHF, among other things, through a NMEA 2000 network backbone, which is very simple to install. The 3500 can be networked via NMEA 183 but it's a bit more involved than NMEA 2000 which is virtually plug and play.

[pdenton]

Sounds like good advice.
Thanks
pdenton